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A few hours after my first dose of PrEP, I woke up during the night shaking with fever and very cold. I had paracetamol [the pain relief medicine acetaminophen], and I started feeling better, and next day I was perfect. I stopped taking PrEP straight away. I went to the clinic and asked them if that was a side effect and they told me the drug doesn't react like that and they said was sure something I ate for dinner. (I had fish and maybe it was wrong?) They recommended to try again, and when I did, felt perfectly. Any thoughts?

Jeton, "PrEP taken as directed" is PreEP taken while using condoms, whether or not it actually says that on the bottle or script. Unless you can cite a study on efficacy of PrEP without condoms being better than condom use alone, then "don't deceive." The iPrEX OLE study you're referring to doesn't look specifically at that group, just mentions some did not use condoms. FYI, I'm HIV-positive. Obviously, not a fan of condoms. Also not a fan of people who promote PrEP irresponsibly.

No matter what drug, everyone is different. No matter what bug it may respond differently in different people. Is there no other PReP drug (or combos) available? Of course there are.The medical community and the gay community need to get together to get new guidelines and suggestions going concerning testing and how to stay negative if they are not positive. Anonymity is no longer such a big issue in our post FISA, Patriot Act and NDAA suspension of expectation of privacy. So get tested!

Finally! A laundry list of do's and don'ts that state the obvious: NO drug is a guarantee that one will not contract HIV. Condoms are still the cheapest and most effective way of reducing the risk of infection.
The young man featured in the article who "works in the HIV field" yet contracted the virus demonstrates that we are all human. No matter what our knowledge level (or what should be our knowledge level) about HIV, we are still prone to error. HIV is an error that must be lived with.

It's like there's 2 conversations. One of them suggests PrEP prevents 99.99% of infections and is safe as aspirin. Then, there's talk about injectible PrEP for people who can't adhere, with hopes for a gentler replacement in the pipeline. One tells us PrEP users don't get riskier, then we hear about all the sex they're having. Whatever the critique is, there's always a rebuttal, even if one rebuttal seems to contradict a prior rebuttal.

Wrong, Terry. PrEP taken as directed is over 99% effective, which is to say that the iPrEX OLE study found *100%* efficacy, but with a variable confidence interval based on the number of study participants...a "perfect" 100 is only possible by testing Truvada-PrEP in every living HIV-negative person on Earth. Truvada-PrEP IS *slightly* more effective with condoms than without...but PrEP is far more powerful HIV-prevention than condoms. don't deceive, make better condoms if you want condom use.

Truvada is not a well tolerated drug for all of us. Ten years of my life suffering from autonomic and peripheral neuropath as well as bone pain and inability to heal after joint replacements has led me to the conclusion that this "well tolerated" drug is a myth for many of us, yet POZ and other advocated organization keep perpetuating this myth. It is as if no one reads the "side effects" in the information accompanying the drug.

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